Material reducing apparatus having a shiftable feed means



1949 J 1.. K. KNIGHT 9 ,872

MATERIAL REDUCING APPARATUS HAVING A SBIF'I'ABLE FEED MEANS Filed June 9, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR," LLOYD K. KNIGHT,

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HTT'X 27, 1949 L... K. KNIGHT MATERIAL REDUCING APPARATUS HAVING A SHIFTABLE FEED MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 9, 1945 INVENTOR, LLOYD K. KNIGHT,

to tha -.adiust b1e .3 31 2137 the @Xifiz "the :materia edu in #the ior a t to yREQYiQ? mater f the o wa iv f ah a of rotation of the material-rad i Patented Dec. 2 7, 1949 seem e d Ke Knight, 'Wes w fle Qh oia i no ileslie assignments,

$9 Th ff y turing Company, aLcorporatioiiL9if Qhio .t e-Application June 9,

. aims- This invention- .'relatesato ,asshredder or material to :be reduced ,isied; to a rotating reducing element by means .of anaadjustable ,conveyor.

sobject Qf-sthe invention;-iszetoqprovide a shredder cormaterial reducing apparatus which vincludes az;.=materiale-reducing motors-and -.-.a iconveyor or feed chute for conveyin materialthere- 1 respect to e-i-rq qr- :I seem n out th e e eeei e -,Q ie t it i {a u the tehiee .Q the inv ntion s in p'tid r h eede m terie t es u iee a ara s t a i l s eemeierial re u ieer e m e hou in 1 .wn orip 7 les- .lt tenpih rebie te t -i reeti9 wm9 id a ede emr t ri k edueie a ara u We in ajigenerally gradialldire g nc de e kmete l e e ueieei e e end r e u e :f eeqn e ismat rie eeenerell re l th r t in whi h rth ecenv e 1 i f-W ng' ab1e,ab out the axis of therptor andQwhic h ca-lrries n mor I br ke h W leh ee eret with the .rotorqto reduce materi l that b in fed into the apparatus in' the conveyor.

vIt is ,still ganother .opjectifoflthe invention :Lto

provide t s edd e mate ie rediwin a neratus vthat includes ,a material reducing @rbtor and a conveyor or. reed chute vior conveying mat ri ate th ,j tq ethe -eeeq e e es h rewit i re uc t e mat ria an in wh 1i tdi ele e q em w erev d w e yre ucedre e zetin efl n of the machinecau sedby wear of' rthereducin'g elements of' the rotor and conveyor may be restored by reversin g'rthel direction f rotationlof .the rotor.

' Other ,and further.pl fil'erzts and advantages "of the invention "will b e' apparent" from'the following description, referencebeing' "had to the accompanying' drawings wherein apreferred em- 'bodiment of the invention isclearly shown.

' In thedrawings:

Fig. i l is a side view-inelevation of a shr'edder Fig. 2 is atyiewxin;sectio mth se tion-bein taken o l lo Eis- .t en eleqlsin inu h 1 directiom o 1 1. 2 ar ows:

(owns-e186 1,2 1 :Fig. ;3 is an end yiew ii nl eleyatlon ,of a portion 9 th met r e ze ue a p at a ee l e so ewesi-i eme h r ht .epfl i -c fim whes ent ee ed 9 th tille sh-ai b i removed-150T a the ak -p c arit :E e i e vi w i seet e (of a l e ib t met elw eduei epiiee ii l $116- view wing pqrtions of .amaterial qon veyor or .chute w and the perusing; of the apparatus in a different ;l0 -;pqs itign rand H e ed -la ie :in swine f e fle i eh aen erews sem bu w h nfyeyorlgr chute i he position shown -in'Fig. a d" 1t it m te e t eei n nts i adi e nt S M 1im tentiQn 1 5 1 9 221 1 the drewingses being e mbqd edi alkifilfil rr e ueir e r t ha wisz nerallylsnew ee eeh edq or ba e ;Bale hreakers as" thenan e implies, arepa'rticula y-edenledeio ee1: z 9 eisi i ie bailed m t ria an e ueh e e b ea er ere Y n e {example in ethe making of paper l for reducing -01 d nte r t n b l es e e e mp Prior dit ese n- -etnere 1mtere "t t t n th m more readily digestible. The digesting process referred-to is well ingrown in the paper making ar Th inv nt en h weve ma be v,erflbodied wi z q e a va t nd eei in mat e equei e 1 device "P at-11.3911 m i l reducing i orotors that are usedvfor r educing substantially any materialwhether;the naterial be friable br in n-ifr e r .eh e ter- Referring i draw n and n w e e @to g- .v it ereo i evm e imr dlw n epp r u 1;!) p in the form: of a baler-jqrealger or shredder {is ash wn- @T L eh eeke inc u e l gerally semi cylindri lhousing or casing l I which :isgsupportedgupon. andsecured to a foundatiqn H2, a material-redueing;cylinder or rotor ,14 that r 0i e nte s w h nshe hqusi e in 18 1161 concentric 1 therewith, and ,a material M conwizeyoror hl1t8=15gthat is adjustably secured to @the housing or ecasinlg' while extending radially therefrom; and;isaadapted to convey r ateriaLto -12 r uc d e-e ere- I media 'i h Pe pher 39 he r qtor lld. V

{Ifher housing or- -casing ;l I includes a bottom portion rqr-tlb' I G that nay' vbe .apastin'g but which is; wn in-thed-rawings as being. ofwelded sohc onstructlon including side plates 11 and end plate ee Support the t u l apparatus are'integral with the endplates l8 and extend outwardly and are. secured to' the foundation [2 Joy boltfsL20. A rotor hearing support h it -e se c e m d eser e ee n t il .elements relative to the discs.

and each support 2| forms a gusset between the end plate I8 and its foot I9. Self-aligning bearings 22 that receive the shaft 23 of the rotor I4 are secured to the supports 2| by bolts 24 and said rotor shaft 23 extends between the bearings 22, across the base and supports the rotor I4 between the end plates or walls I8 which are notched at 25 (see Fig. 1) to receive the shaft. The base portion I6 of the housing supports a pair of upright arcuate or semi-circular end walls or plates 26, the inside surfaces of which are in vertical alignment with the inside surfaces of the end plates I8 of the base portion I6.

The rotor body is a composite structure that is assembled on the shaft '23 and includes discs 21, tubular spacers 28 and tie bolts 29. The diameter of the rotor shaft is greatest at its center to provide a pair of similar shoulders one of which is seen at 3| against which the discs 2! that are adjacent the center of the rotor abut to secure the rotor body I4 against sidewise movement on the rotor shaft 23. The center spacer 28 is of such internal diameter as to be received by the large center portion of the rotor shaft and of such length that its ends form continuations of the shoulders 3| and abut the inside surfaces of the central discs 21. The discs 21 and spacers 28 are placed alternately upon the rotor shaft 23 and the tie bolts 29 extend from side to side of the rotor assembly through aligned openings in the discs 21 and clamp the discs and spacers together and against the shoulders 3| of the shaft and the ends 30 of the center spacer 28. The discs 21 at the end of the rotor assembly are provided with outwardly extending flanges 32 which function to prevent tangling of material about the rotor adjacent the walls I8 of the housing. The rotor body is secured against rotation relative to the rotor shaft 23 by a key 33 that is embedded in the rotor shaft and en- These material reducing elements may be of any desired shape and may be secured to the rotor assembly in any well known manner.

However, it is preferable in bale breakers that the reducing elements be non-pivotally connected to the rotor and that the elements be shaped to cut or tear the baled material in'reducing it. To this end the reducing elements 34 are shaped to include material cutting or tearing edges 35 and each is secured to the rotor by pins 36 that extend through the discs 21. Each of the reducing elements 34 is secured by two of the pins 36 and the elements, as viewed in Fig. 2, are placed on the rotor in rows. It has been found desirable to 1 form the reducing elements 34 of material whose thickness is approximately one-third the width of the space between the discs 21 and to provide washers or spacers 31 for spacing the reducing It has also been found desirable to arrange the material reducing elements 34 on the rotor so that during operation of the machine only a few of the reducing elements 34 act upon the baled material at any given time, thus reducing the power required to drive the rotor. To this end it is desirable that the reducing elements 34 of the adjacent rows of elements seen in Fig. 2 be spaced relative to one another so that they form a helix about the periphery of the rotor I4.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the portion of the reducing apparatus thus far described includes a substantially hollow rectangular base portion I6 and a pair of arcuate end walls or plates 26 that extend upwardly above the end plates I8 of the base portion I5 and that the inside surfaces of the arcuate walls 26 lie in the same vertical planes as the inside surfaces of the end plates I8. It will also be seen that the complete rotor assembly I4 is carried between the ends of the housing I I with its shaft extending through the end walls of the housing and the bearings 22.

The rotor shaft 23 is secured to the hubs of the bearings 22 to retain the complete rotor assembly centered within the housing and the shaft is provided with a suitable pulley 38 by which it may be driven from a motor through a belt, for example. The end of the rotor shaft 23 opposite the pulley 38 carries a fly wheel 39 and both the pulley and fly wheel are secured to the shaft by keys 40 and 240, respectively.

The arcuate end plates 26 are provided with outwardly extending flanges I40 on their bases that mate with and are bolted to flanges 4| of the end walls I8 of the base.

The conveyor or chute I5 includes a loading section 43 and a feed section 44 that are bolted together at 45. The feed section 44 of the conveyor is of rugged welded construction and includes end walls or plates 46 that are shaped to conform to the contour of the arcuate plates 26 and carry outwardly extending flanges 41. The inside of each of the end walls 46 of the feed section has a relatively heavy plate or liner 49 that is secured thereto by a pair of bolts 50. The plates 49 extend from the feed section 44 and are received between the arcuate end walls 26 when the conveyor is attached to the housing. The plates 49 are notched or cut out at 5| to form sockets that receive reducing elements or bars 52 which form an adjustable part of the conveyor.

The reducing elements 52 cooperate with the rotor for reducing material that is fed into the reducing apparatus through the conveyor I5. The reducing elements or bars 52 are adapted to cooperate with the rotor to reduce material that is fed into the apparatus through the conveyor and the bars are positioned with respect to the periphery thereof by means of spacer elements 55 which may be placed to position the element in the positions shown in Figs. 4 or 5 or in any position intermediate thereof. It is desirable that those spacers 55 that are above the breaker bars 52 be of the same length as the breaker bars in order that there will be no gap between the breaker bars 52 and the bottom of the feed section wall and that those spacers 55 below the breaker elements be of such length that they will lie entirely within the sockets 5|.

An important feature of my invention resides in the adjustability of the pivoted or swingable conveyor or chute I5 with respect to the housing I and the material reducing rotor I4. The conveyor or chute assembly I5 when positioned upon the housing I I is supported by arcuate flanges 53 that receive the flanges 41 of the feed section 44 and the plates 49 form spice plates between the end walls 46 of the feed section and the arcuate walls 26 of the housing. The flanges 53 and 41 are secured together by bolts 56 and the plates 49 J are secured tothearcuateend*wallsby bolts 51. With the bolts 56 and removed the conveyor or .chute I5 may be removedbodily from '"the ihlousing to :adjust the breaker elements 52 or it "maybe movedarcuately with respect to the hous- "'lng aboutthe 'axis'of'the rotor-while maintaining its radial: characteristic. "placed, when the'chute" I5 is-correctly positioned, anylof the openings5'8 inthe'arcuate end walls '25 and the bolts 56' may "be placed in properly 'ispaced op'enings'that'are formed in the flanges "5310f the end walls) 6. The conveyor I5 maybe "moved or adjusted "to any of various positions Thefbolts 51 may be shown and indicated iniFigs. 2 and 4, in all of which the distance between the breaker bars 52 andftherotor I4 is the sameidue to the' 'concentric structure of rotor 14 [and end plates 25.

closed, except for its material inlet and outlet openings. In order that the areas at each side of the chute I5 and between the arcuate side walls 26 may be covered and uncovered to permit ready adjustment of the chute I5 on the arcuate walls 26, sectional cover members that are formed by,

plates 65 are provided. The plates are shaped to conform with the shape of the arcuate walls 26 and are received by the flanges 53 thereof to which they are bolted. When it is desired to adjust the chute I5 with respect to the arcuate walls 26, the plates III! are removed as necessary to uncover the area to which the chute I5 is to be moved and after the chute has been adjusted to its new position the plates 50 which were removed are bolted to the arcuate walls 26 to cover the area that was formerly occupied by the chute I5.

The conveyor or chute I5 may be supported by the arcuate walls 25 so as to occupy any one of the various positions illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings. However, when the chute is adjusted to the position seen in Fig. 4 it is necessary to remove, in addition to the necessary cover plates 60, one of a pair of cover members 63 that extend across and cover the top of the bottom portion I6 of the housing II at the sides of the arcuate walls or plates 26.

The material reducing rotor I4 may be operated in either direction, that is, it may be rotated clockwise or counter-clockwise for reducing material fed thereto by the conveyor I5. The breaker bars or breaker elements 52 are attached to and swing with the chute I5. They can be positioned to adjust the clearance between them and the conveyor I5, as is shown in the drawings, or they can be removed by sliding the bars 52 endwise when the conveyor I5 is removed from the housing II.

In the operation of the reducing apparatus, bales of hemp or like material are fed through material confining chute I5 into the reducing chamber of the apparatus and first engage the periphery of the material reducing rotor assembly I I by reason of their weight. I have found that by varyin the angle of the conveyor with Inspection respect to a horizontal; plane -taken.-t;h-rough-.the axismof the rotor .that.,the conveyor will :act

frictionally upon ;}the .bales being fedtoretard --or slow down their feed rate as desired -thus to control-the ratevat which rmaterial-will be removed from =the bale-zby the reducing elements 53-5 of the rotor. I have also found-that the particles of materialethat- -are removed Ifrom the viously-described, .when it is desired to break 'rthe .bales into larger pieces.

The rotor assembly I4 may be rotated, for

example, in a clockwise direction for reducing material land when the wear on the reducing elements 34 and-fillies become such as to interfere with the proper reduction of the material, the direction ofzrotationqof the irotor may be reversed and the edges which were previously the trailing -edges of the rotor *reducingelements 33 then become the leadin edges and'the breaker bar on the left side of the machine which has not been worn will cooperate with the sharp edges of the elements 33 to correctly reduce the material. It is to be understood, however, that when all of the elements 34 and 52 have become worn it will be necessary to renew them. However, by providing a reversible machine I have found that the expense connected with the maintenance of the device is greatly reduced since one set of elements 33 can be utilized, merely by reversing the direction of rotation of the rotor, to wear out two breaker elements 52 without the necessity of servicing the material reducing apparatus.

While the invention has been described in connection with a bale breaker it is to be understood that it may be used in any reducing apparatus wherein the reduction of material is accomplished by a rotating reducing element and that the material reducing elements on the rotor, particularly when friable material is to be reduced,

may be of the swing hammer type.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and I therefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

Havin thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States is:

1. In a reducing apparatus, amaterial reducing rotor, a generally semi-cylindrical housing for said rotor including arcuate end walls adjacent the ends of said rotor one on each side thereof and concentric therewith, a chute for conveying material to said rotor adjustably associated with said housing and supported between said end walls while extending substantially radially therefrom, and cover means for said rotor supported on opposite ends by said arcuate end walls at the sides of said chute, said cover means being shiftable to permit arcuate adjustment of said material conveyor while maintaining its radial characteristic.

2. In a reducing apparatus, a material reducing rotor, means supporting said rotor, arcuate walls adjacent the ends of said rotor and concentric therewith, and a chute for conveying material to said rotor extendin radially therefrom and including oppositely disposed movable reducing elements adapted to cooperate with said rotor for reducing said material, said chute being supported by and movable with respect to said arcuate end walls and movable about the axis of said rotor while maintaining its radial characteristic.

3. In a reducing apparatus, a material reducing rotor, means supporting said rotor, arcuate walls adjacent the ends of said rotor and concentric therewith, and a chute for conveying material to said rotor extending radially therefrom and including a movable reducing element adapted to cooperate with said rotor for reducing said material, said chute being supported by and movable with respect to said arcuate end walls and movable about the axis of said rotor while maintaining its radial characteristic.

LLOYD K. KNIGHT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number F Number 8 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Smith Mar. 31, 1881 Belt et al Dec. 11, 1906 Easter Dec. 15, 1914 Smartt Oct. 20, 1925 Trunz Sept. 17, 1929 Bullock Feb. 18, 1930 Mantelet Jan. 27, 1942 Werner Aug. 11, 1942 Magnus May 16, 1944 Grant Apr. 23, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Denmark Dec. 28, 1929 Germany June 3, 1914 

